SWAMPSCOTT — The Town is gearing up to unveil the Muskrat Pond Conservation Area that has been newly transformed by Girl Scout Effie Cobbett with the support of the Girl Scouts and Swampscott Conservancy.
The unveiling is set to take place on Aug. 2 at 10 a.m. at 209 Forest Ave. Attendees are asked to park in the middle school parking lot since the conservation area is located opposite the middle school.
Cobbett, along with the help of the Girl Scouts and Swampscott Conservancy, worked to update the neglected parcel into an area where the community can come together and enjoy the open space. With this project in her sights, she was aiming to complete her Gold Award: the highest award in Girl Scouting, which is the equivalent to Boy Scouts Eagle Scout award.
She’s also the first recipient of the Swampscott Conservancy’s $1,000 Environmental Focus Award Scholarship, which was designed to support young leaders who intend to pursue studies in environmental and related fields.
She explained how she began by studying to spot any invasive species in the area and removing old rope equipment that was used for kids to play with, courtesy of help from the Department of Public Works. She then removed Oriental Bittersweet and Japanese Barberry – which are both invasive plant species – took out some burning bush in the area, removed heaps of trash and even had tree stumps arranged like seats for people to use.
A graduate from the ‘25 class of Swampscott High School, Cobbett will be attending Purdue University as a Biological Engineering Major and studying plant-based applications such as bioplastics and bioenergy.
The Conservancy’s Environmental Focus Award Scholarship was made possible by a generous donation from the Spellios family.
Cobbett explained how part of the mission was to see that maintenance of the site continues on a recurring basis.
As part of the sustainability aspect of the Gold Award, there will be a Girl Scout troop or local group of Swampscott students who will maintain the area each year, according to Cobbett. Mostly, they will continue to pull up the invasive plants until they are eradicated “since the process does take multiple years.”
They will also continue to pick up trash on the site, she added.
Swampscott Conservancy President Toni Bandrowicz commented on Cobbett’s efforts to enhance the area.
“The conservancy is very proud of her efforts to transform what was really a neglected and forgotten parcel into something that can be used and enjoyed by the community,” Bandrowicz said. “We’re especially impressed with her creativity… She didn’t just clean up the area. She created and incorporated an unstructured play space for kids to encourage imaginative thinking by them… And with the health and environmental benefits of green spaces for kids, projects like this we feel are indispensable to the well-being of the community.”
